"The cause of the latest blunder is something known as 'mashing,'" Darlene Anderson, a spokeswoman for the bureau, told The New Yorker. "When too much ink is applied to the paper, the lines of the artwork aren’t as crisp as they should be, like when a kid tries to carefully color inside the lines — using watercolors and a fat paintbrush."

"There are dire consequences involved here because the Bureau of Engraving and Printing sells Federal Reserve notes to the Board to finance our entire operation," Felix wrote in the memo. "If BEP does not meet the order, the BEP does not get paid."